One of the more common questions and statements made when I was discussing the production of GET LAMP was what role MUDs would play in the final work. MUDs, or Multi-User-Dimensions, or Multi-User-Dungeons (or Multi-Undergraduate Destroyers) were compelling, text-based worlds that took the world by storm starting in the 1970s and then attracting a mass of new adherents in the late 1980s and early 1990s with the introduction of many college students to the internet.
Now, as it turns out, while the interface of MUDs is very similar to text adventures, it just isn't the case of there being a huge amount of overlap. Yes, people who used text adventures found the MUDs easier to use, but MUDs were not puzzle-fests and not really about interactive fiction. But it was worth the exploration, and a number of MUD folks got interviewed, and used in the movie, but not always discussing MUDs. One of these is Jim Aspnes.
Aspnes is the creator of TinyMUD, which was an attempt to bring the MUD world down into a smaller, extensible codebase and provide a fun thing to tinker with. While the code has gone through many revisions by many people, Aspnes' work got a lot of attention and let a thousand online flowers bloom.
He turned out to be both up for an interview, and to be a relatively short drive from where I lived. We conducted the interview in his office, and it was somewhat short, but well worth the time. Plus, how could I pass up the opportunity to meet and thank one of the people who defined a large part of my life, as I've run a MUD variant for over 20 years. Thanks!
![[item image]](http://ia600604.us.archive.org/21/items/GETLAMP-Aspnes/Edited-Aspnes.gif?cnt=0 "[item image]")
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